Recap: Andre Spight Sets New School Records in Win Over Montana State

Saturday, February 3

Greeley, Colo.

2pm

University of Northern Colorado

15-9, 6-5

Montana State University

12-12, 7-4

Montana State

Northern Colorado

2/3/2018 7:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Jalen Sanders and Jonah Radebaugh finish with double-doubles in the victory

By: Kurt Maddox, UNCBears.com

Greeley, Colo.—Andre Spight didn't come into the game wanting to break multiple school records, but his teammates saw that he was hot and fed him the ball as Dre dropped 41 points in the 86-63 triumph over Montana State (12-12, 5-6). The 41 points are a single-game record as Spight passed Anthony Johnson who scored 37 at Eastern Washington two years ago. Northern Colorado (15-9, 6-5) had great performances all around and got back to playing as a team in the 23-point win.

(1/4/2018) Men's Basketball vs Montana State

How It Happened
UNC came out hot and hit its first six shots to take the early 15-8 lead in the first four minutes of the game. It became less of a Bobcats vs Bears game and more Tyler Hall vs Andre Spight as the first half progressed. Jordan Davis picked up his third foul with 8:31 to go so Spight picked up the slack.

UNC never trailed in the first with the help of Spight's 18 but the Bobcats kept it close with Hall hitting 4-of-5 from deep and 7-of-10 overall. Both players went into the locker room with 18 but the final bucket of the half was off a Spight assist to Chaz Glotta and Glotta buried the 3 to send the Bears to half with the 38-34 lead.

It was more of the same in the second half as the Bears jumped out and scored 16 to Montana State's six in the first four minutes. Northern Colorado really poured after that and didn't allow MSU to even sniff an under 10-point deficit the rest away.

Head coach Jeff Linder said after the game that he wanted to get Dre to 40 and then take him out. Spight hit a layup with 32 seconds to go to put him at 41. Jalen Sanders came close to a single-game record in rebounds with 17 boards on the night and finished with his second-career double-double (12 points, 17 rebounds). Jonah Radebaugh fought to get his second double-double this year and third overall as he finished with 11 points and 10 boards.

Game Changer
Andre Spight has scored over 30 points in four-straight home games and his latest was the best all-time in UNC history. The redshirt senior scored 41 which beat Anthony Johnson's 37 at Eastern Washington on February 13, 2016. This wasn't his only record he broke, as was the 15 made field goals and 31 attempts. The Arizona State transfer also put his name second behind DJ Miles in 3s made in a game with eight. Spight also tied current teammate Chaz Glotta for most 3-point attempts with 21.

Key Stat
When you outrebounded an opponent by 17, the team should easily win the game and that is what happened tonight. UNC came into the game dead even with their opponents on the rebounding stat but because of performances by Radebaugh and Sanders who had 27 combined, the Bears easily cleaned the glass better than the Bobcats

What They Said
Head Coach Jeff Linder
Opening Statement
"I was proud of our guys, we responded well. I challenged them to see what our response was going to be after the Montana game. You have to defend your home court, and I think we learned a lot from the Montana game. I thought we learned a lot from the last Montana State game in order to come away with the win. We knew they were a really good rebounding team, to beat them by 17 on the glass, for Jalen to have 17 rebounds, Jonah to have 10, but overall, even our guards getting in there. Dre, I think he had 5 or 6, JD didn't have a lot, he got into foul trouble, but I thought our overall effort on the glass was the big difference in that game. To have a guy like Dre, where you can put the ball in his hands and to go out and do what he did. I wasn't really quite aware of what the school record was for scoring, I didn't even realize that Anthony had had it. I thought it was Beitzel. I wanted to get him to 40, and he got to that point. I'm happy for him. To have to sit out and experience what he experienced at Arizona State, for him to come out and really show people who he is…there's no guard in the league better with those hands."

On the total team effort
"I think overall the biggest thing was getting back to guarding our opponent well. I mean, that's a team that's really hard to guard. You've got a guy in Tyler Hall who's one of the best offensive players in the league, Harold Frye, one of the better point guards in the league, and for us to hold them to 33%, that's something that we've talked about. To win 3 games in the conference tournament, you have to be able to guard, you have to be able to rebound, and the added bonus is can you make shots. But overall, if you do those first two, you're going to keep yourself in a game where maybe you don't make some shots and so for our guys to kind of get back on the right page defensively in terms of our positioning, I think that definitely showed up in the score, in the final result."

On how this can carry over to the next few games

"We've responded pretty well on the road. To go on the road and beat a team like Idaho and then put yourself in position to beat Eastern Washington, I think our guys, they know what they're playing for. They know the position they're in, and the month of February, as I told them, this is when you start separating from other teams. I think they understand that. They want to. They've had the right approach, regardless, after a loss, they had the right approach yesterday getting ready on a quick turnaround, and then to come out today, it was really more of a test of toughness, of togetherness, and I thought those guys passed the test."

Redshirt Senior Guard Andre Spight
On his record-breaking game
"Today was a little different. I've never shown up to the arena that early before a game and you know, warmed up. I've never shown up that early. For it to be a game like this, and for me to show up that early, it shows I need to be doing that more often. So, that felt good. It's just the trust of your teammates. They swing me the ball and they trust me to make each shot, and the coaching staff – that's really what it is. Just the trust that my teammates have in me."

On what Anthony Johnson said after
"I can't say what he said, but he's really mad. He's really mad about the record being broken, but, and that's my guy. He said if anyone can break it, he's glad it's me."

On how this game can carry over
This helps a lot to get our confidence back up. It's a long season. This is the month of February. It's the month where a lot of teams either get better or they quit. And we're not the team to quit."

Freshman Guard Jalen Sanders
On what changed from the game in Bozeman
"I think our energy, for sure, up in Bozeman. We just came out flat, we weren't prepared. I think we were on a winning streak going into that game, cockiness or whatever. We came into this one knowing that we couldn't do the same thing. We just wanted to be more consistent and play a lot harder than we did in Montana.

Notable Stats

Freshman Jalen Sanders pulled down 17 boards which are second all-time for a game and is only one behind the record of 18 held by current Bear Tanner Morgan. This effort tonight blasted past his career-high of 12 rebounds.
The Bears hit over 50.0 percent of their shots tonight coming in at a 51.5% clip for the game. It was two balanced halves as UNC shot 53.6% in the first and an even 50% in the second stanza.
Despite being known as a 3-point shooting team, Northern Colorado outscored Montana State in the paint 38-14.
The 17 more rebounds accounted for 12 more second-chance points than the Bobcats.
The 23-point margin was the biggest so far this season in Big Sky conference play.

What's Next
UNC will head back out on the road to face Idaho State on February 8 in Pocatello and Weber State February 10. Both games start at 7 pm Mountain Time.
The next time Northern Colorado will be home will be the last two regular-season games at Bank for Colorado Arena for the team. Northern Arizona comes to town February 15 at 7 pm and senior night will be the 17^th against Southern Utah as UNC will recognize Andre Spight, Tanner Morgan, Anthony Johnson and Tyler Loose for all they have done for the Northern Colorado men's basketball team.

Bears win so you win!!!!
Celebrate the UNC Bears win with Papa John's by using promo code: UNCWINS for 50% off all regular menu price orders. The promo is good for 24 hours after the game at participating locations.